Chapter 4
It was bloody and costly, the leadership of the Adeptus Astartes saw a very aggressive push towards their objective. Fortunately, the initial forces encountered were little more than a threat to them. Many broke at the sight of the massive warriors with several begging in fear and asking to be forgiven and spared. They all died.
The scrapped together vehicles of the chaos forces proved no match for the tanks of the Imperium, the leman Russ tanks wiped them out with ease. It looked like their push into the 'heart' of the enemy would prove easy until they finally met a more trained force.
Pure destruction, tanks clashing against each other. Blasting and destroying everything in their way, most of the ground troops were left at the back to prevent any unnecessary losses. With their mechanized force, the Imperium pushed through and cut a path into the enemy.
Just to be met with a well prepared enemy, it was here that 53897-7119-01 saw himself suddenly awake. It was like falling into a well just to be brought unto a completely different world than his previous one, he took a deep breath.
Inhaling what filtered air remained within his mask, he had to change them soon. But that would have to wait, he pushed himself up and grabbed his rifle which laid just a few steps away from him. He looked around and saw chaos, chaos unlike anything he had ever seen before.
" Push Forward " A mighty voice roared from the battle field grabbing his attention. It was a mighty warrior clad in green and orange armour, he held a mighty shield in front of him with a bolter gun to his side.
It was the emperor's angels, the mighty astartes that he had heard so much about. Oh he so wished he could glaze and bask in their presence but years of training kick in with a freshened mind that focused on the objective.
He got up and ran forward, swaying where he could as dozens of las - beams flew all around him. He heard shouts and screams, grenades blowing what bodies it could. Just then, he saw a force of about 30 soldiers engaged in a fire fight with enemies a few dozen meters away.
He aimed his rifle and fired seconds within spotting a head, he was unsure if it hit but he sent another towards a second figure that seemed to pop out again. Return fire saw 3 guardsmen fall dead on their backs, their bodies laying still and silent forever.
He pushed forward, throwing himself at the ground before beginning a quickened crawl towards the enemy. He balanced his rifle against the ground and began taking pock shots at the enemy, any heads or body that came out saw a flurry of las guns sent its way.
"Grenade" a voice called out and seconds later a short explosion rang out into his ear. He looked to his side, his general right and saw the remains of a group of soldiers that took cover there
Just then, the ground vibrated and shook. He got alarmed quickly and moved to take a new cover just to see the figure of a space marine burst through their lines and into the enemy. Within a second he changed his direction and charged through, all of them did.
The monster broke apart walls and bodies, rushing into the line of the enemy, their weapons doing little to damage him. They panicked and began concentrating fire on him but were met with the assault of the soldiers of the Death Korps. They targeted anyone firing at the angel, with many trying to redirect their focus on them seeking to instead lay down their lives than risk a stain upon the mighty soldier.
53897-7119-01 charged in, killing a single man before ramming his bayonet into another. The traitor's comrade screamed in anger as he fired, missing his two shots before being blasted to oblivion by a single bolt round. He charged once more, joining other soldiers as they overran the enemies position quickly.
The Astartes neither halted for a break nor to speak but simply kept moving, quickly some troops stayed back to clean up and the rest ran after him barely able to keep up with him. Around the battlefield there were similar results, units of Astartes simply appearing and causing chaos within the enemies lines to allow for a push from the soldiers of Krieg.
Soon, they tore a hole into the defending forces and began an encirclement that utterly devastated them. No survivors were taken and all were killed within sight. Quickly, the soldiers of krieg reformed and the match continued leaving those who could move no longer behind. The initial force of 50,000 soldiers was quickly diminishing with every attack group they encountered, so much so that the Astartes decided to slow down.
They knew that their hated enemy had the bodies to spare for their defense and they would rather see them use up all their ammo than let those bodies survive this war. By this point, a period of over 2 months had passed and the supplies of the initial force were in great peril.
But the objective was never closer than before so a scout force was to be arranged and sent ahead of the army. One made of both Krieg and the forces of the Aeldari, their task was to test the grounds before the main force was ready to push through.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
This war had gone on for too long and they were starting to suffer losses that they couldn't replace. Nuelath Pryre was a Warlock leading this current group, they were a bunch of outcasts who were loyal to her brother and decided to join her in her exile thus pledging servitude to her.
She had led them for years, searching for answers that had led her astray from the path of the craftworld. She had come to this world for these very answers, believing that this world held the key that would lead her to it but it had failed to bear fruit since her coming.
Her time here was coming to an end as her troupe grew ever restless within the voices of the warp becoming ever so present on this planet. She sighed to herself and stared at the group of Krieg Grenadiers handed to her to help achieve their objective.
They weren't expected to come back, how they so readily threw away their lives made her a bit envious but generally disgusted. The barbarians were nothing compared to her people, their lives were in the end worthless.
" I suggest that we make our way through the villages around here, moving through this path to meet up with the second group. My men will take the lead " The voice of their leader entered her ear, she had to hold herself back from looking at him.
At least the mask they wore made their presence more bearable even if more barbaric, the skulls placed upon them simply shows that.
" Suit yourself, my cohort and I will watch from the back. " She replied, this would save her the time of trying to argue with this and save the lives of her people.
" Noted " He simply answered before dividing the grenadiers into two groups before they then set out on the path.
Compared to the other parts of the battlefield that they had been, this place was…empty. There were no wrecked vehicles or miles of destroyed buildings or dead soldiers, it just looked so bare like the war that was happening was of no concern to it.
It was barely industrialized, with large swaths of the land left bare and open. They might have been farmfields but it was either burnt out or already harvested with no one to replant it. There were machines left abandoned presumably used to assist those that used to farm here.
The little convoy marched their feet through an outlined path or deepened and darkened dirt, it was mushy yet compact enough to prevent their feet from soaking in. They walked for minutes before reaching the first village or what it used to be.
There were no people here, no children or workers. The houses were left unattended with moss and previously suppressed plant life had grown over it. Some houses had their doors still open like its occupants had left in a hurry, unable to close it in time.
" Search the houses, squads of two. Alert the Xeno that we will be making a brief stop here " The Watchmaster ordered.
Grenadier 53897-7119-01 and another trooper nodded before turning and heading towards the other group. Grenadier 53897-7119-01 had been promoted into being a grenadier due to them needing grenadiers because most of them died charging in with the Adeptus Astartes and also that he fought with them.
It didn't really matter to him since it simply meant a change in uniform and a better weapon to kill the enemies of the Emperor of Mankind but in his particular case, also the hopes of surviving an encounter to what is normally expected. Grenadiers have the better chance of surviving given the right circumstances, especially since they have a greater deal of autonomy than the average trooper.
Still it wasn't really looking good for him, the presence of the Adeptus Astartes meant that this world was either gone or stuff was about to go down. Or there was the off chance that a traitor force was on this planet, which would explain the massive force of Astartes sent in response.
Didn't look like they were sent here by a higher power, most likely of their own accord so it could be the most likely option. If that was so, then he knew that his chances of surviving were even lower now. Not to talk of the fact that he clearly was deployed to the 6th company and not the second, that was a problem for another time.
" We will be making a brief stop here " He said to them as he reached, scanning their ranks. From what he could see, he could recognise a few of them off head though he was never really a fan of the space elves.
" What is the reason? Aeldari asked him.
He simply stared at her since it was all he was asked to deliver, there was no need to indulge the xeno in information that could help them more than needed.
" I understand then " The Aeldari answered, allowing Grenadier 53897-7119-01 to dismiss himself and join the others in the search of the village.
The buildings were cracked down individually, two man squads cleared down and turned over anything they could to find anything that could become a threat to them. They had gone through half of the village and still seen no bodies or people.
It didn't really worry them or anything, they simply moved on. That was at least until a squad had seen some signs of the enemy here. They alerted their watchmaster and he got 2 more squads to join them as they scoured the buildings.
There were drawings, made of blood and it looked fresh. There were still no bodies but at least now it was confirmed that the enemy was here. It would explain the lack of bodies here.
" Mark this village down for burning, quicken the pace and kill anyone you find " The Watchmaster ordered, it was standard protocol to annihilate the taint of chaos wherever they could. If they could.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
Nuelath Pryre was getting increasingly paranoid, at first she felt nothing from the village. No presence of life or activity of the warp but then suddenly it was like a leak had occurred. A dark brooding feeling poked at her senses, it was a disgusting feeling.
Everyone was getting restless behind her but the 2 brutes that had been sent to watch her and her cohort - seemed oblivious to the problem. They sometimes glanced their way before looking elsewhere, it could be their lack of sensitivity to the warp that caused this.
" What are you and your soldiers doing back there? " She said, barely holding back a snarl from her voice. It was remarkable that she had stayed this long here, she was surprised since she would have generally simply left a while ago unable to bear that stench.
They didn't answer her, they never did. They just gave them the silence that they held since their arrival, this group was an odd one amongst all the others.
" Let me go in there and confirm what those brutes are doing. Staying back here will do us no good and we can't have you reaching into the warp " One of her men came up and told her, he spoke in their tongue to avoid the ears of one of the soldiers.
" No " a reply came.
At first she thought it was from her but clearly that was not what she wanted to say, it then clicked a second later that it was from one of the soldiers that belonged to the imperium.
" What?" She said to him a bit confused at the answer.
" No warp sorcery Aeldari " The soldier commanded.
While she wanted to simply place her sword within his throat save for the fact that it will stain it, she was surprised at the fact that he really did just say that. The Dire Avenger seemed eager to move on him but she placed her hand stopping him in his tracks.
She then muttered a few words in her tongue, a bit curious to test out a theory of her, she recalled the words that were exchanged and began to say them in a very slow manner. He didn't seem to react until she reached the last sentence which caused him to reach for his weapon and take aim at her.
Within seconds, the other grenadier, although unaware of the reason why, repeated the same action but they were hopelessly outgunned as within the blink of an eye, all her warriors had their weapons trained on them ready to execute them at the slightest hint of movement.
" No warp Sorcery Xeno " Grenadier 53897-7119-01 repeated unfazed at the current situation he had created.
Neulath let out a chuckle at the current situation, she would have loved to explore more of it actually. Could be the hint needed for her to find the link to her answers. A random guardsman who just so happened to learn a few words of her language despite its primary race hating anything not part of it.
But it would have to wait as she felt a huge surge of warp energy burst open in the village, her troops reeled back in fear of it. Although they all had their spirit stones in case of some accident, they weren't ready to take the chance that something bad could happen there.
The air crackled and tore with laughter, the ground shook with pain and the horde came like the tidal waves of a sea. You could hear their screams and laughter miles away or maybe it was all in your head.
The Grenadiers scattered quickly and began falling back to their primary location to mount up a defense against them. These people held no real weapons, some had farm tools and makeshift weapons like the sharpened end of sticks or the blunted edge of a broken tool or object.
Still, there was no harm in taking extra precautions against them. The hellguns of the grenadiers tore through them with ease, they fought them at a distance while the mob tried to get closer to use their hands or whatever was in it.
" Vermin " Nuelath spat as warp energy trickled through her fingers.
The sound of a hellgun being trailed at her head brought her attention to the single guardsmen who aimed at her. Even amidst the current fight, he still held his original state of mind.
" No warp Sorcery " He repeated, his hands still on the trigger.
She stared at him for a few seconds before the dancing energy slowly dissipated from her fingers, she glanced back at her soldiers before giving them a nod.
" Wipe them out, " She ordered.
They moved with inhumane speed, their weapons firing projectiles that cut through the mass of people with scary ease. Some of them still kept going even after they went through the whole group, its speed unimpacted by its target.
Some crazy ones moved closer to the mob, so close that you could touch them but then they ran parallel to them as they fired their weapons with incredible accuracy. Whatever high position that could give them an advantage was already either taken by them or targeted by them.
Some made it all the way around the mass of people before letting loose on them from behind, tearing through them like butter. Only two warriors refused to join in the battle with them, the warlock and the dark reaper.
Some of the mob actually managed to touch one of the Aedari soldiers, whether it was intentional or not. The Soldier grabbed the hand and broke it in the process with a simple shift of his wrist, the fingers broke and bled with the inner bone protruding out of it.
He flung the poor soul sideways and it fell lifelessly with a hole within his chest. The soldier continued on, firing into the now dying out mob of villagers. Seconds had passed as the whole ordeal had taken place and soon there was nothing but dead bodies scattered upon the ground.
" Any losses? " The Watchmaster questioned soon after it was over. A quick headcount later and an answer was presented to him.
" None Sir "
" We move out now " He ordered.
[_[]_]~Changing Tides~[_[]_]
Although she was happy to have found a lead that could prove useful, it was incredibly hard to harness it. On one hand, she was happy that they were not the usual brute that spat foul xeno at them every 3 seconds or when they smelled their presence.
They were also not one of those that seemed affected by their beauty or presence, rather showing a very intense indifference to them. They neither spoke much unless it was required in the absolute sense nor did they seem like a type you could approach.
What these Mon'keighs were doing to themselves was utterly pitiful, destroying their individuality for the husk they call soldiers who just so readily throw their lives. She found it hard to approach the singular soldier that caught her interest but even harder to know which was which, save for the fact of his psychic presence.
They dressed the same and did things exactly the same, a soldier who could be sent to watch them could easily be swapped out and you wouldn't notice a thing. They barely if at any time spoke out making it even harder to differentiate between them, even their gender seemed to blend together within that uniform and attitude of theirs.
But that was not of her concern, she had spoken with her group about her thoughts relating to the soldier who referred to himself as grenadier 53897-7119-01. They decided that it would be best to see if he could understand more things in their language before slowly knowing just how he knew.
Though it was agreed upon that if he was a dead lead that they would depart from the planet immediately as this planet was proving too dangerous for them especially since their Great Enemy still sought after their souls greatly.
But tricking a bunch of animals into doing the deed of a superior being is simple especially for one like her and soon she got her time with him.
It had been over three days since they left the main force, 1 more till they rendezvous with the second group and another before they reached the enemy's fortress. They had camped to take a rest after clearing a wandering group of cultists, it was a time for them to organise, eat and recoup where needed.
" Have you had a meal yet? " She asked the soldier as she approached him, he stared at her in return and glanced over her group.
" Oh, you need not worry about us. We aren't going anywhere, we are in service of your Emperor's Angels after all " She said, getting the hint that he was wary around them, it wasn't a time to slack off duty.
Once more he simply stared though now it was brief before he looked back out into the space before him, a clear field spanning miles with probably not a single human there.
" Or do you doubt the Judgement of the great Adeptus Astartes? " She said with a surprised voice, calling them by the revered name the Imperium teaches to all. The words said to his ears sent a shiver through his bones, it was one thing to hear it from someone else.
For some odd reason, he found himself being defiant against those thoughts. Against worshipping the warriors as these revered beings, he knew that there were traitors from them and the Emperor makes no mistake. He sighed internally before pushing back those thoughts, he couldn't afford to try and fight the norm.
He simply accepted it as he always had, they were his angels and he believed that fully. They were his divine weapons of death, there were his fury made incarnate and they were results of his will. Obedience was all was required and all will be given in his service with hopes of atonement for the ancestral sin of Krieg.
He took off his rifle and placed it at his side before removing his backpack to retrieve some rations to eat. It was a dull greyish mushy stuff packed in a tightly sealed container, under the container was an attached cube that he would eat after he finished the sludge.
As he brought out his Utensil to eat, he stopped briefly as he stared at the Aeldari before him. She stared back, her face hidden by the mask she wore. He then reached into his bag and brought out a second set of rations and held it towards her.
She stared at him, remaining in the same position though there did seem to be a reaction from her group as many who had removed their helms bore what seemed to range from disgust to laughs on their faces. He held it out awaiting her hands to take it.
Finally she outstretched hers and took it with fine twitchy grace, he turned to his own rations and began digging in, famished from the long march. The Aeldari in turn slowly took off her helmet and brought it to the side, revealing a face of perfection before him.
He turned to her and stared at her face, she stared back at him, staring into his lenses as a small smirk escaped into her face.
" Eat " he said, causing the smirk to vanish, his eyes darted to his own portion and saw that it was all gone. He had finished it within seconds save for the cube which he was about to take, never once did he take off his mask.
She winced at the sight of it and opened hers. The Stench seemed even more pervasive than ever before, everything seemed more pervasive to her senses. Her hand moved slightly causing the mushy substance to jiggle slightly in her hands, her face contorted if for the briefest of moment into one of horror at it.
Her, a great Aeldari was going to be subjected to the substances a lesser being - a MonK'eigh took for their sustenance. As an Aeldari, this was a thought that was simply unacceptable but she had too if she wanted to make progress. This one in particular seemed more willing to engage with her than the rest, it couldn't go to waste.
She raised it up to her mouth, forming a face of complete indifference and threw it all in. What happened next was beyond explanation to her, but she held on….at least she thought so. She slowly lowered the container with grace, presenting it before the Monk'eigh as a slight smile appeared upon her face.
There was an audible cracked low heightened reaction from Grenadier 53897-7119-01, it was for the briefest moment and it sounded more like a cursed being who attempted to cry for help than anything else but the reaction drew the attention of all who heard it.
It was undeniably a laugh from him.
She stared intrigued at that reaction and was subsequently taken aback by his next action. He raised his hands towards her face, a single finger outstretched itself and landed upon the surface of her cheek. The soft yet ragged bloodied feel of the glove pressed against her soft supple skin.
It moved slightly, spreading its germs and stain upon her face. The proximity of the hand so close to her nose, it overwhelmed her, from the absolute stench of it, a mixture of whatever it had touched since its production emitted from it. It was like she could smell every single one of it alone and all at once.
This was the final straw for her, warp energy began to sparkle around her fingertips. Her eyes screamed for blood and death, her face contorted into the most horrific of expressions she had probably ever made in her entire life. Then she gulped down hard on the remnants of the sludge she unknowingly held in her mouth and the guardsman spoke.
" Aeldari are naturally curious creatures, I assume you want something from me " he said less as a question and more as a matter of fact. His demeanor changed as he began packing up, the slight relaxation in his body was gone and now he was back to how he always had been. But there was a subtle difference in his voice apart from the fact he spoke more…human now.
She struggled to reign in her anger, considering whether to simply let loose and make him pay for what he did. But her people were an honored race of superior beings, she reigned in her anger especially now that she was making progress with something to show that their sacrifices were worth it all.